After months of political turmoil following annulled elections and a banned front-runner nationalist candidate, Romanians have finally elected a new president -- one that will bring a sigh of relief from Brussels.
Centrist, pro-EU, and pro-Ukraine, Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan now steps into the international arena as Europe's biggest conflict since World War II rages next door in Ukraine.
"Romania had a clear choice in this election, between continuing its pro-Western course or shifting toward ultranationalism and in favor of Russia. In electing Nicușor Dan, they have chosen pro-Western continuity," Oana Lungescu, a fellow at the Royal United Services Institute defense and security think-tank in the UK, told RFE/RL.
"There will be a sigh of relief in both the EU and NATO, of which Romania has been a solid member for decades. Romania has a strategic position," Lungescu, who is a former NATO spokeswoman, added.
Nicusor Dan's Comeback Against George Simion
There are many remarkable things about Dan’s election victory on May 18, in which he garnered around 54 percent of the vote to defeat 38-year-old ultranationalist George Simion in the second-round runoff.
Dan didn't even run in the first attempt held in November last year, having only recently begun a second term at the City Hall in Bucharest.
But when that election was annulled amid allegations of Russian meddling, Dan decided to throw his hat into the ring for the rerun in May.
"We are in a moment of balance, the most difficult since 1989," he said, referring to the year that saw the bloody overthrow of Romania's Communist regime.
The second remarkable thing is that Dan only scraped through in the first round, less than a single percentage point ahead of the third-place candidate, Crin Antonescu, and some 20 percent behind Simion.
He somehow closed that gap and beat Simion to the prize but now faces the tough job of calming political passions in a deeply polarized country.
Challenges Ahead For Nicusor Dan
Dan ran as an independent, defeating candidates from both the governing coalition and the main opposition party and its allies, which Simion represented.
This may mean he can present himself as a unifier, but it also means he needs to build support in parliament.
This will be particularly important in one of Dan's first tasks, which will be to appoint a new prime minister who can command a majority.
“It's not easy, it's complicated, as the parliament is very fragmented," Sergiu Miscoiu from the Faculty of European Studies at Cluj University told RFE/RL.
The presidency is a semi-executive role that has important functions for foreign policy, such as attending international summits and wielding Romania’s EU veto.
Who's Happy With Dan's Win?
Dan has said he wants to have close relations with the United States while maintaining a consistently pro-EU stance and to continue supporting Ukraine.
His election will be welcomed in Brussels and other European capitals, who will have seen Dan as their natural ally among the two candidates and someone they can do business with.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk even made direct shows of support for Dan just two days before the election.
Following the election, both Macron and Tusk offered quick congratulations to Dan on his victory.
"Despite numerous attempts at manipulation, Romanians chose democracy, the rule of law, and the European Union this evening," stated Macron, who said he spoke to Dan by phone after the results came in.
The Trump administration, by contrast, has been vocal in its criticism of the decision to annul last year's elections -- delighting Simion's supporters.
Dan has voiced steadfast support for NATO and will hope to keep Washington onside, not least because the United States maintains a key anti-ballistic missile base and some 1,700 troops in Romania.
Amid ongoing chatter of US plans for withdrawing troops from Europe, it could be another headache for Romania's new president.
"Any president being elected on a pro-European platform would have some problems with the Trump administration. But Nicusor Dan is anything but a leftist," said Miscoiu.
"He's quite, let's say, a moderate conservative. This could help him in a discussion with the White House," he added.
